CIA, IB join hands to install nuclear bug at Nanda Devi in Himalayas to 'watch' China

Nanda Devi - visited by CIA

Way back in 1964, the serene Nanda Devi in the Himalayas became the unsual target of an American CIA and Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) assault. "Operation Blue Mountain," a joint venture of the two agencies, was aimed at installing a remote sensing device, powered by a nuclear pack, on a high location to monitor Chinese missile activity in the Sinkiang region.

This exercise was suggested by the deputy director, Plans, Clandestine Services of the CIA and the IB. New Delhi and Washington, motivated by the Sino-Indian conflict of 1962 and China's first nuclear explosion in 1964, accepted the idea with alacrity. The US Pentagon had estimated that by 1980, China would possess a sizeable nuclear arsenal once the ICBMs it was testing were fully developed, a threat which caused considerable anxiety to both Governments.

Location: The obvious location for planting the device was Nanda Devi (7,816 m), since it was the tallest peak in India. But there was also a strategic factor which influenced the choice. The approach to the peak is through a pass on the Indian side which could be easily closed for security reasons. In fact, the Government banned mountaineering expeditions after the operation. It was opened to climbers only in 1974.

Unlike these days, when the CIA is anathema to Third World governments, the CIA's offer to help install the nuclear bug proved a boon to the Indian Government. In 1964, India had no external intelligence service worth the name. Besides, the cost of the operation was more than a million dollars, which was borne, inevitably, by the CIA's annual budget.

Apart from being clandestine, "Operation Blue Mountain" was also a major mountaineering expedition. A team of 21 climbers, which included members of the CIA and the IB, made the first attempt in 1964. Sources identify some of the climbers recruited by the IB as Commander M.S. Kohli and Col. N. Kumar, H.C.S. Rawat, Sonam Gyatso, Nawang Gombu, Gurdial Singh and A.S. Cheema.

Abandoned: The expedition failed to reach the summit as it was overtaken by a blizzard and was forced to leave the nuclear pack 400 ft below the intended location and return to the base camp. As the weather deteriorated, the mission was temporarily abandoned. The nuclear pack was supposed to have been securely cached. Later, in May 1966, another expedition was sent out, but the team discovered that a major avalanche had occurred in the area and the device could not be located. Subsequent attempts to locate the nuclear pack by air proved futile.

According to intelligence sources, the pack continued to generate heat and burrowed into the mountain snows till it reached hard rock, where it settled. Subsequent landslides could have moved it from its original location.

However, the CIA did not give up easily. In 1967, they set out to plant a new device, this time on Nanda Kot (6,861 m), east of Nanda Devi. They apparently had a twinge of conscience at planting two nuclear devices on the same peak. The bug functioned till 1968 when, in a typical dog-in-the-manger attitude, the Americans had it retrieved. By then, the US had developed its satellite surveillance and India's cooperation was no longer required. However, the first device continues to tick in the snows of Nandi Devi. It has a 'life' of 99 years.

But while the latent hazard to the environment continues to be the subject o controversy, the sudden revelation of the device's existence could have deeper ramifications in world politics. It is obvious the information - which appeared in the American magazine Outside - was a CIA leak. Whether the leak was intentional of not, Washington has much to gain.

However, the call of Nanda Devi still seems to attract Americans. A large US expedition of students and teachers will attempt the peak this summer. The CIA has offer enlisted the help of people not in its ranks. Would there be more CIA nuclear dropping in Indian snows?